conlangfandomcom-20200223-history
Sydlandic
Classification and Dialects Sydlandic is a North Germanic languages which rose from the Old Norse dialects the Scandinavian settlers spoke. Because of its geographical isolation it's still grammatically very conservative like Icelandic and Faroese and the changes of the Scandinavian languages, like in Danish or Swedish the lost of the cases, have never taken place. Writing System # If the letter e is in the first or only syllable of a word, it is pronounced /ε/, otherwise /ə/, e.g. j'e'''g /j'ε'j/ (=I'') or b'e'''ta /b'ε'ta/ (=to bet''), but Sýdlænsk'e' /sydlænʃk'ə'/ (=Sydlandic) # If the letter g is the last letter of a word, it is pronounced /j/, otherwise /g/, e.g. da'g' /da'j'/ (=day - nominative), but da'g'ýr /da'g'''yɐ̯/ (=day - accusative'') # If the letter n is followed by the letter g, it is pronounced /ŋ/, e.g. si'ng'a /si'ŋ'''a/ (=to sing'') # If the letter r is preceded by a vowel and/or followed by a consonant, it is pronounced /ɐ̯/ (r-vocalization), otherwise /ʁ/, e.g. mæ'r' /mæ'ɐ̯'/ (=we), but sk'r'éjva /ʃk'ʁ'εjva/ (=to write) # If the letter s is followed by the letters k or j, it is pronounced /ʃ/, e.g. s'''kréjva /ʃ'kʁεjva/ (=to write'') or sjáua /'ʃ'''jaʊ̯a/ (=to watch'') # The digraph áu is pronounced /aʊ̯/, e.g. t'áu'r /t'aʊ̯'ɐ̯/ (=dew) # If the letter ð is preceded by a consonant, it is not pronounced, but the consonant is phonetically lengthened, otherwise preceded by a vowel or a vocalic r, it is pronounced, e.g. mon'ð' /mo'n:'/ (=mouth), but ð'''æt /ð'æt/ (=it'') # The letter é is used if the e-sound does not correspond to the first rule, so if the e-sound is not pronounced /ə/ in the polysyllabic words, e.g. presid'é'''nt /pʁεsid'ε'nt/ (=president - otherwise if it were written president, it would be pronounced /pʁεsidənt/ following the first rule'') # The digraph éj is pronounced /εj/, e.g. ð'éj' /ð'εj'/ (=they) Grammar Nouns Nouns in Sydlandic inflect depending on the gender, case, definiteness and number. Indefinite noun declension The indefinite pronoun éj, éj, et has no plural form, like in English the indefinite pronoun a(n), e.g. éj honð (='''a' dog''), but honðír (=dogs) Definite noun declension Umlaut The umlaut-rule applies for nouns in the plural (but not only). Some vowel change in the first syllable into another vowel, but this rule applies just for Germanic words; so words like klavær (=keyboard) coming from the French word "clavier" do not follow this rule. # a changes into æ : m'a'''n - m'æ'nír # o changes into ø : '''o'nkel (=uncle) - ø'nkelír # u changes into ý : '''u'rn (=urn) - 'ý'rnar # ó changes into ø : bó'k (=book'') - b'ø'''kar # ú changes into ý : h'ú's (=house'') - h'ý'''sar Adjectives In Sydlandic, there are two types of declension, the weak declension, which applies to adjectives following undefinite nouns, and the strong declension, which applies to adjectives following definite nouns. Weak declension The indefinite pronoun 'éj, éj, et''' is left out if the noun is followed by an adjective, e.g. stór man (='''a big' man; but not : éj stór man'') Strong declension The strong declension is used for adjectives following a definite noun, e.g. stórí manet (=the '''big' man'') Comparative The comparative of an adjective in Sydlandic is formed by the adjective applying the umlaut-rule and added by the ending '-ar', e.g. stør'ar' man (=a bigg'er''' man''). The comparison is done by the adjective in the comparative form and by putting the compared noun in the dative case preceeded by the preposition ðen, e.g. Mín faðar er størar ðen díným faðarí. (=My father is '''bigger than your father'.) Superlative The superlative of an adjective in Sydlandic is formed by the adjective applying the '''umlaut-rule' and added by the ending '-est', e.g. stør'est'í manet (=the bigg'est''' man''). To make a comparison with an adjective in the superlative form, the compared noun is put in the genitive case, e.g. Hen er størestí ala sína klaspæra. (=He is '''the biggest of all his class mates'.) Exceptions There are some exceptions for the comparative and superlative : some adjectives may have irregularities concerning their comparative and superlative form or do not have a comparative and a superlative form at all. Some adjectives cannot take a comparative or a superlative form, notably mostly adjectives which describe a clearly defined and absolute state, e.g. : '''hvit' (=white), ilð (=ill), svángar (=pregnant) - in Sydlandic like in English, you cannot say : hvitar - hvitest (=whiter - whitest), ilðar - ilðest (=iller, illest), svángarar - svángarest (=more pregnant - most pregnant). Verbs Syntax Lexicon Example text